Health Update

So, I’m still off work recovering, not so much from the surgery (which was simple) but from the abuse of my body wreaked by the infection. As my urologist said, “I’m not trying to scare you, but yes, I’m trying to scare you…you were within a day of dying when you went to the ER.” He said I was perhaps, too stoic in the face of pain. I didn’t bother to disabuse him of that notion — there wasn’t that much pain at any point; maybe a “4”. But I’ve been extremely tired since then, worse that anything I’ve had except the worst flus or mono. I have some better spells, but not many, and tire easily even then.

At this point, I’m waiting to hear from the urologist regarding the post-event blood tests; I had to wait a week after the stent was out (which made sure my kidney didn’t seal shut from scarring after the laser busted up the stone, which was 6mm). I’m showing some outward signs of kidney damage, most of which I never associated with kidneys at all, but had suffered for the last year without realizing what it was: the shortness of breath, random itchiness, rashes, and “foaming” urine in the bowl (I thought that was sugar?!). On the good side, I lost about 20 pounds on the hospital diet, and kept most of it off–so far. My blood sugar is under tight control for the first time, too. Ironically, that’s also a possible cause of the tiredness; your body can become accustomed to the higher sugar level and “need” it. It’s still bad for you.

And, just talked to the doctor after that paragraph above. Off work for two more weeks, it’s the after-effects of the infection. A1C is way high, based on pre-hospitalization sugar levels, should be nosediving soon (daily sugar level has run 99-118 since discharge, usually towards the low end). But everything else is great; no overt signs of kidney damage. Yay!

And as a reward for reading my troubles, I’ll post something about anime tomorrow. Probably…. 🙂